Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, has announced an unprecedented plan to purchase the entire volume of cocoa currently stockpiled by the country’s cooperatives, in a bid to protect farmers from a deepening price slump and a growing backlog of unsold beans.

The move comes as international cocoa prices have tumbled from the historic highs seen in the previous season, falling to their lowest level in around two years. After a surge in prices that once sent shockwaves through global chocolate markets, the pendulum has swung sharply in the opposite direction, leaving Ivorian warehouses full and farmers increasingly anxious about how they will be paid.

Authorities say the state-backed intervention is designed to prevent a liquidity crisis among cooperatives and to ensure that producers, many of whom live on the edge of poverty, receive the money they are owed for beans already delivered.

“The chosen strategy is simple and effective,” Agriculture Minister Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani said as he unveiled the plan. “The government will primarily rely on credible, solid and structured national operators, who will conduct purchasing and collection operations in collaboration with their traditional partners, notably grinders, multinationals and international exporters.”

Behind the technocratic language lies a stark reality: cocoa is the backbone of Ivory Coast’s economy. The sector accounts for roughly 14 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and directly or indirectly supports an estimated one in five Ivorians. When cocoa falters, the shock ripples far beyond the plantations, affecting transporters, port workers, traders, and entire rural communities.

In recent months, however, the global cocoa market has turned against producers. After a dramatic price spike in the previous season, driven by poor harvests in West Africa, weather disruptions and speculative trading, chocolate manufacturers and food companies began reformulating products, cutting back on cocoa content, and in some cases raising retail prices. Demand from major consuming regions in Europe and Asia softened as buyers waited for prices to normalize.

As international buyers pulled back, Ivorian exports slowed. Shipments that once moved swiftly through the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro began to lag, and beans started to accumulate in cooperative warehouses upcountry. Traders and cooperatives, squeezed between fixed obligations to farmers and weaker demand from exporters, found themselves holding large volumes of cocoa they could not easily sell at a profit.

At the same time, the international reference price for cocoa retreated sharply from its peak. According to industry data, prices have fallen by roughly five dollars per kilogram from their highs, eroding margins and undermining the financial stability of local buyers. For smallholder farmers, who typically receive a fixed farmgate price set by the government at the start of the season, the danger is that intermediaries will simply run out of cash and stop buying, or delay payments indefinitely.

The government’s decision to step in as buyer of last resort is intended to break that logjam. Under the plan, national operators approved by the authorities will purchase the stockpiled beans from cooperatives, using financing mechanisms backed or facilitated by the state. These operators will then work with established partners in the cocoa chain – including multinational trading houses, local grinders and exporters – to move the beans onto international markets over time.

By absorbing the immediate surplus, officials hope to stabilize the domestic market, prevent a collapse in confidence, and reassure farmers that they will not be left with unsold crops. The intervention also aims to give the government more leverage in managing the pace of exports, allowing it to avoid flooding the market at a moment of weak demand and low prices.

For farmers in cocoa-growing regions such as the southwest and center-west of the country, the announcement offers a measure of relief. Many had already delivered their beans to cooperatives months earlier, expecting prompt payment. Instead, some found that the cooperatives were struggling to secure buyers and credit, leading to delays and partial payments. With household budgets heavily dependent on the cocoa harvest, any interruption in cash flow can quickly translate into missed school fees, unpaid medical bills and mounting debts.

Rural leaders and farmer organizations have long argued that the volatility of the global cocoa market leaves producers bearing disproportionate risk. While Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana have introduced mechanisms such as a living income differential – a premium added to the export price to support farmers’ incomes – the latest downturn underscores how exposed the sector remains to swings in international demand and speculative trading.

Analysts note that the current glut of beans is not solely a demand story. After weather-related setbacks in previous seasons, improved conditions in some growing areas have contributed to a stronger harvest. At the same time, the earlier price spike encouraged some producers to push yields higher, adding to supply just as buyers were cutting back.

The government’s stockpile purchase is therefore also a way of managing the timing of exports. By holding beans off the market temporarily, Ivory Coast may be able to avoid deepening the price slump and instead release volumes more gradually as demand recovers. However, storing cocoa is not without risk: beans can deteriorate if not properly handled, and financing large inventories ties up capital that could be used elsewhere in the economy.

Industry observers will be watching closely to see how the plan is implemented in practice. Key questions include the criteria for selecting the “credible, solid and structured” national operators mentioned by the agriculture minister, the terms of the financing they receive, and the transparency of the process. There are also concerns about whether smaller cooperatives and more remote farming communities will benefit equally, or whether the bulk of the support will flow to larger, better-connected players.

For international buyers, the intervention is a reminder of the growing role that producer governments are willing to play in managing strategic commodities. Ivory Coast has repeatedly signaled that it does not want to remain a mere price taker in the global cocoa trade. Alongside Ghana, it has pushed for higher returns for farmers and greater investment in local processing, so that more value is captured within producing countries rather than in foreign factories and retail chains.